Shahane Martirosyan
smartirosyan@media.ucla.edu
He lives in a cave called a studio. He reads Treasure Island because pirates are cool. He can’t read music but plays the drums, the guitar and the piano.
His name is Narek Ovsepyan, but you can call him A.Chilla.
I met him at his studio in Burbank, he conveniently was wering black slippers. Like a good host, Narek played a few of the new songs he has been working on with Apeh Jan and the rest of the Nuzik (New +Music=Nuzik) Entertainment family. Nuzik has a very hip-hop/R&B/Soul sound with a hint of Armenian folk bordering on Rabiz.
Although I could feel all of these genres exuding out of the speakers I still had to ask him why the music that he makes is considered new music. He turned his face away from the monitor, looked at me and asked, "When was the last time you heard someone like Apeh Jan?" I sheepishly realized that I have not heard any hip-hop artist who says, "I am bringing Rabiz back".
Narek brings Rabiz back like it’s never been back before because it’s back with hip-hop and pretty much every other musical genre, making it main-stream with middle-eastern appeal.
His middle eastern flavor has expanded through collaborations with the like of the avant-garde artist Arto Tuncboyaciyan, of the Armenian Navy Band. He told me that he and Arto are very dear friends and played me a song that they had made together. While we were listening to Arto, he jokingly disclosed that if there is ever Lion King 2 coming out this song would be on the soundtrack.
Making a soundtrack is Narek’s biggest dream, and I presume this is because acting was part of who the guy was.
Growing up in Armenia, Narek began performing at a very young age. Whether it was acting, singing or working on production, he was always an entertainer. As years passed, he moved towards producing music rather than being on the mic. He corrected me when I called him a hip-hop producer because jailing his talent into one small genre would make the cave a much smaller realm.
This is mainly due to the fact that he has various influences on his music. He enjoys classical music just as much as he enjoys Spitakci Hayko or jazz.
Among many of his talents is discovering new acts. A few years ago Narek met with Apeh Jan by chance. He recalled how he was working at a studio where Apeh Jan would visit his friends and one day while Apeh was playing around with the microphone he heard his "raspy" voice and realized that he can use the "rabiz thing he has in him" and make music that has never been heard before.
Two of them soon became best friends and brothers. He produced Apeh Jan’s upcoming album, Son of Sam, and ventured into promoting themselves everywhere from Los Angeles all the way back to Yerevan.
Last year they went back to Armenia and participated in an American Idol type of show called ‘Hamazgayin Astgh’ or Pan-Armenian Star. They received the gold award and to their surprised were embraced by the Armenians in Armenia. From being on the covers of all the Armenian magazines to topping the Armenian charts, they soon dominated the Armenian airwaves all over.
He admitted that this experience really doukh tvets since they didn’t think that the English music they were making on the other side of the planet would be such a hit in the homeland.
The four months spent in Armenia was life changing for Narek. He made many Armenian friends from different walks of life. He is planning on getting his studio and going back to Armenia where he’ll work with the up and coming artists. In addition, he hopes on making more instrumental tracks with Arto Tuncboyaciyan’s band members.
Although I spent less than an hour with Narek at his studio, I very quickly picked up on the guy’s talent. Throughout the interview he was either playing drums or the piano while eccentrically letting out all of his hopes and dreams he had for the music that he was making.
Music business is as much about music as it is about business. I am not sure what it was about Narek, but he seemed to be more music than business. But then again he sat with me for an interview to let the community know about his business.
No comments:
Post a Comment